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- Let me tell you about…Alan Wake : XBox 360 / PS3 / PC Released on: May 14, 2010 PROS - Beautiful environments and lighting effects - Memorable characters and an intriguing plot - Use of light to weaken enemies makes fights more than just trigger-pulls and dodges - Some very tense moments when exploring unknown terrain, particularly in the forests of Bright Falls - Some very bad-ass moments pop up near the latter half of the game, where trucks, boats and other enormous objects are flung about the environment CONS - Sluggish, sticky controls - The characters’ facial animations are simply horrendous, and often times more frightening than the action onscreen - Some really, really, really, REALLY cheesy dialog - The story itself, while interesting most times, relies on poor transitions and too much explanation from side-characters to propel it - The menu and HUD are without innovation - Most environments, while pretty, don’t stand out. Especially the forest areas - There is no attack aside from firearms; when you run out of ammo, you’re effed, there is no melee attack - Alan doesn’t interact with the environment fluidly, if at all. To open a door you walk into it until it pushes open, jumping off a ledge is more of a slide, and often times Alan will continue to drift after you let off the controller, resulting in a number of falling deaths - Fighting “possessed objects” is not only a drag, but plain goofy - The ending isn’t an ending, and players are required to download extra episodes in order to round out the finale - The homages to Twin Peaks are nice, but get really, really distracting as the game progresses to where it seems more like the writers just ripped off Lynch’s series Final score: C- Comments: There has been a lot of anticipation for Alan Wake leading to its release. Announced FIVE YEARS AGO, Alan Wake was the follow up to Remedy’s Max Payne series, and the similarities of graphics and control are pretty apparent. A game with an interesting premise and story, Alan Wake ends up being cheesy and fairly generic in the gameplay department. The use of light to weaken enemies is fun at first, but over time each battle becomes a drag between bouts of running through endless woodland settings. There are some genuinely tense moments, and some genuinely engaging portions of the narrative, but in the end Alan Wake doesn’t live up to the hype.

- Let me tell you about…

Alan Wake : XBox 360 / PS3 / PC

Released on: May 14, 2010

PROS

- Beautiful environments and lighting effects
- Memorable characters and an intriguing plot
- Use of light to weaken enemies makes fights more than just trigger-pulls and dodges
- Some very tense moments when exploring unknown terrain, particularly in the forests of Bright Falls
- Some very bad-ass moments pop up near the latter half of the game, where trucks, boats and other enormous objects are flung about the environment

CONS

- Sluggish, sticky controls
- The characters’ facial animations are simply horrendous, and often times more frightening than the action onscreen
- Some really, really, really, REALLY cheesy dialog
- The story itself, while interesting most times, relies on poor transitions and too much explanation from side-characters to propel it
- The menu and HUD are without innovation
- Most environments, while pretty, don’t stand out. Especially the forest areas
- There is no attack aside from firearms; when you run out of ammo, you’re effed, there is no melee attack
- Alan doesn’t interact with the environment fluidly, if at all. To open a door you walk into it until it pushes open, jumping off a ledge is more of a slide, and often times Alan will continue to drift after you let off the controller, resulting in a number of falling deaths
- Fighting “possessed objects” is not only a drag, but plain goofy
- The ending isn’t an ending, and players are required to download extra episodes in order to round out the finale
- The homages to Twin Peaks are nice, but get really, really distracting as the game progresses to where it seems more like the writers just ripped off Lynch’s series

Final score: C-

Comments: There has been a lot of anticipation for Alan Wake leading to its release. Announced FIVE YEARS AGO, Alan Wake was the follow up to Remedy’s Max Payne series, and the similarities of graphics and control are pretty apparent. A game with an interesting premise and story, Alan Wake ends up being cheesy and fairly generic in the gameplay department. The use of light to weaken enemies is fun at first, but over time each battle becomes a drag between bouts of running through endless woodland settings. There are some genuinely tense moments, and some genuinely engaging portions of the narrative, but in the end Alan Wake doesn’t live up to the hype.